- Truth Today
- Posts
- Colossians 1:14
What happens in the kingdom of the Son? Redemption and the forgiveness of sins. That is a big deal. Our sins have alienated us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Now, in Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins as a gift. This only happens in Christ; for the rest, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience (Colossians 3:6). But for us, Christ is our rock and summit, where we take shelter (Psalm 18:2).
Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). The blood that was shed is from Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
The death of Jesus, and our benefit from it, did not cheapen sin; it showed it to be very costly, requiring the life of the Son of God.
Now, after His resurrection, He is interceding for us in the very presence of God (Hebrews 7:25). We learn that His blood speaks of something better than Abel's (Hebrews 12:24). His blood speaks forgiveness after His death, while Abel's blood spoke vengeance (Hebrews 12:24, Genesis 4:7-10). He took on the wrath of God upon Himself so that we can live a new life (Romans 6:4).
The statement in the focus verse is "We HAVE redemption in Him," and NOT "we are GOING to have redemption." We now have forgiveness of sin as a present reality. That is our inheritance in Christ. The ransom has been paid, our replacement to take on the wrath of God. We now have eternal life, and we can live and walk in the light of the presence of God.
That feat is impossible for mere humans to pull off, but not for God (Mark 10:27). God Himself brought salvation. He looked and saw there was no one who could execute salvation, so He took matters into His own hands (Isaiah 59:16).
God came down (Isaiah 64:1). He had to be made like us (Hebrews 2:17) to be the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) and the head of another race of human beings, the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), seeing as he is the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18).
God made Him to be sin for us; He made the righteous One to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
How did that happen? First, with John the Baptist as the priest-prophet (his father was Zechariah the priest), he laid his hand on Jesus and declared Him to be the Lamb of God (John 1:29), similar to what the priest does with the atonement lamb (Leviticus 16:21), on which he confesses the sins of the people, laying his hand on the lamb.
Jesus entered the water ( as John was baptizing many people) where people had been confessing their sins, and in a way, the sins of the world (with the children of Israel representing the whole world [Jeremiah 2:3]) were transferred onto Him after His baptism.
The same hand that had touched people confessing their sins touched Jesus, transferring the sins onto Him (Matthew 3:4-6, 13-17). And the rest, as they say, is history.
This is the Lord's work, we consider it amazing (Psalm 118:23). He took on our sins so that we can live a new life (Romans 6:4). He experienced a cut off from the father so that we can becomes the beloved of the father (Matthew 27:46).
Sin must be paid for. Justice had to be served, and God had to be just while also being the justifier of those who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness (Romans 3:26).
The judgment of death for sin had to be addressed, and God's love had to be released at the same time. God said the consequence of Adam's sin would be death (Genesis 2:17).
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But God offers the gift of righteousness. Why? So that no one can boast in His presence (Romans 3:27, 1 Corinthians 1:29) as having achieved it.
No kudos are due to the children of Israel for escaping slavery in Egypt—a people enslaved one day and free the next.
As they journey towards the land of Canaan, which they are to inherit (since they can inherit it because God is the owner of all things), they are accompanied by the very presence of God day and night (Exodus 13:21).
We also have the Holy Spirit within us (John 14:17), as Jesus promised his followers. We did not even realize we need the Holy Spirit, but with Jesus ascending to heaven and returning later for the full restoration of the kingdom, the Holy Spirit keeps us grounded in being His witnesses (Acts 1:8).
We have a mission on earth (Matthew 28:19-20). With the Holy Spirit, we become God's weapon of warfare (Jeremiah 51:20), and the promise of Jesus to build His church continues (Matthew 16:18) until the fullness of the Gentiles (non-Israel believers) comes in (Romans 11:25).
Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18). The gates of hell not overpowering it means they are not strong enough to resist it. The devil and his hordes are the resistance; we are the owner/occupiers. We are not the resistance, trying to hold on to our position.
We serve the King of Kings (Revelation 19:16), the one who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18) and who owns all things.
The king is away and has instructed us to "do business" (Luke 19:13), and he is coming quickly, bringing his reward with him to repay everyone (Revelation 22:12).
We have complete victory (Romans 8:37). We come with the weapons of righteousness on both hands (2 Corinthians 6:7), we walk in the light of the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). We do not fear those who kill the body, we fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).
How everything is going to end has been written out in the book of Revelation. The end is already written, the Holy Spirit is helping us write our parts.
Christ is coming and his reward is with him (Revelation 22:12). He is the lamb with seven eyes (Revelation 5:6), and would not forget your work and love you have demonstrated for his name (Hebrews 6:10).
What we have left is the rewards, as we await the words "Well done, good and faithful slave... Enter into the joy of your master (Matthew 25:21)."
That is what we have in Christ.
Reply